Yuletide Recs
Dec. 31st, 2013 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cest_whatI'm probably not going to get any further through the archive before author reveals, so here are all the recs I've posted to pinboard so far.
7 slash, 6 femslash, 1 het, 1 f/m/m, 8 gen:
Black Books: Noble and Most Ancient (Manny & Bernard & Fran)
8000 words | teen | Bernard Black, long-estranged scion of the House of Black, receives an inheritence. This is hilarious and delightful and note-perfect for both Black Books and the HP universe. I loved the tiny bit of Andromeda-and-Bernard interaction especially. And Red Dwarf Black.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Undercover Work (Rosa/Amy)
3200 words | G | Rosa goes undercover with Santiago at a gay club, and has feelings, although she's not totally clear on what the feelings are; sometimes anger is really hard to tell apart from the other ones. Aw damn, this is so sweet, while still being true to Rosa's voice. I really like this one.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: a distinct lack of tutus (Rosa/Amy)
2900 words | teen | Amy's first reaction is jealous annoyance that this is another chance for Peralta to bond with the captain, simply because he's a guy and can be undercover gay with him. Another undercover-at-a-gay-club fic. This one's really fun. Not a love story, but the kiss is pretty hot and the voices are great, especially Amy's helplessly flexible outlook on her sexuality in the POV voice. Seriously I like this Amy voice a lot, her ambition and the way she tangles herself up over everything.
Calvin & Hobbes: Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine (Susie Derkins & Death)
3100 words | teen | Susie Derkins, confronted with her own Death while crossing the quad in her final year at college, challenges her to a game of Calvinball. This is v. cool. I love the progression of the game, especially; I could never quite picture how a game of Calvinball played out, but this really worked for me. And I really enjoyed this Death.
Chihayafuru: the red that is (Chihaya/Shinobu)
1700 words | G | Ayase Chihaya is breaking Shinobu's concentration. Ohhh gosh this is the loveliest. The kiss scene in particular felt so believable, I can see it going down like this exactly. I really like their dynamic in this fic, especially in the last few scenes.
Chihayafuru: What friends have I who know my heart (Chihaya/Taichi/Arata)
5100 words | teen | Taichi's been waiting for the day they leave him behind; when Chihaya and Arata stand in the apartment Taichi shares with Arata and say they have something to talk about, Taichi guesses it's today. Argh, Taichiiii. This fic is great for feelings and pining, I really liked it. I don't agree with the author's reading of the meaning of that one line from canon she talks about, but it's a lovely get-together all the same. And I loved the way Taichi uses karuta to think about things, that was really skillfully and naturally done.
Church Mice: The Church Mice and the Choristers (Arthur-centric)
1600 words | G | The problem was less the young mice in the choir, and more the parson's mother. OH MY GOD MY YULETIDE GIFT THIS YEAR IS ILLUSTRATED IT IS SO FUCKING CHARMING. Ugh I am delight. Lovely tone, wonderfully true to the original in style and aesthetic. (For some reason the images wouldn't display for me in my browser, but worked on my phone, fwiw.)
Church Mice: The Smallest Details by Anonymous (Arthur/Humphrey)
http://archiveofourown.org/works/1101573
300 words | G | Humphrey's instructions for the procedure to be followed in the event he is unwell. THIS IS THE MOST DARLING THING WHAT A PERFECTLY EXCELLENT HUMPHREY VOICE. Arthur unless he is soggy <3 (Disclaimer: Also a gift for me. BUT SO LOVELY.)
Church Mice: Glory in the Highest (Arthur & Humphrey)
1400 words | G | Arthur and Humphrey are inspired to invite Songs of Praise to film in Wortlethorp. So charming, just a lovely tone with mice being mice, matter of fact and ridiculous.
Demon's Lexicon: The Way Things Were (Jamie/Seb)
1200 words | teen | Jamie and Seb aboard the evil magician boat of doom, featuring occasionally-dark Jamie and unnecessary comments from Nick. So I feel like canon established that Seb was less convinced by Jamie's dark intoxication with power than this? But this is really good all the same, I adore Seb's scared helpless wanting and Jamie's cruel sunny changeability and Nick being impassive and dangerous in the background. Damnit all the Seb/Jamie I just want want want. This is an excellent addition to a tragically small pool, though.
Despicable Me/Hobbes and Bacon (Calvin & Hobbes): Getting to Know You (Crossover ensemble)
1400 words | G | The two main things Bacon has ascertained about her new college roommate, in between her own dad's incessant texts, are 1. she's the middle of three sisters, and 2. her dad is possibly a supervillain. This is super-delightful for both canons (and even though the second Despicable Me movie made me hopping mad, I do love all of the characters). Despite the title it's not so much Bacon & Edith getting to know each other as it is two fics about family occupying the same page, but all the voices are charming and believable and the whole effect is pretty great.
Lost Prince: Most Fervently (Marco/The Rat)
10,000 words | mature | The Feeling comes upon Marco first at the insignificant touch of the Rat's fingers on his cheek, brushing away a horsefly. Oh my ... god. Okay so this is soulmate consensual heat fic with unrealised implications of mpreg, and I'm not gonna lie, part of me is just cackling delightedly at this interpretation for the unbearable kingly specialness of the Loristans. But the rest of me is in love with every Edwardianly earnest and achingly sentimental line of this. Nnnnn loyalty and mutual feudal devotion and bonds formed in boyhood, yes I will yes.
Mulan: The Harmony of You and Me (Mulan/Shang)
1400 words | explicit | "I love you too," Shang says. "I always have. That's the problem." Yess, I love when Mulan fic goes here; this isn't complex but it's fun and sweet, and quite hot although that feels somehow less the point, to me, despite the content. Also I loved her grandmother suggesting Mulan might want to practise her ~wifely duties~ sometimes when Shang wasn't there, and Mushu's busybodiness.
No. 6: A certain symmetry (Shion/Nezumi)
3200 words | G | Wherein Nezumi comes back and Shion punches him in the face. a;lkdj;fs this is beautiful and so full of love and complicated feelings and banter that manages to be both lightly witty and weighed down and saturated with significance and feelings. And Nezumi's eloquence and cowardice and Shion's yearning directness and awful wonderful awareness of Nezumi's presence.
Ookiku Furikabutte: Strategies of Trust (Abe/Mihashi)
8900 words | teen | When rumors surface of an attempt to discredit and dismiss Momokan at the beginning of their third year, the team moves to protect its own. Damnit I LOVE THIS SHIP SO MUCH this is so great. I want this for their future so badly, the ending of course but more than that the trust and comfort with one another, I want them to get there so much, and this is such a beautiful picture of what it could look like. And then the last scene, Abe stuttering, god. And even though the shippiness is beautiful, this is such an ensemble fic in its scope, and all the other team members are so great, the bits of Nishihiro & Oki's friendship, and Sakaeguchi & Suyama's, and just everyone is wonderful.
Ookiku Furikabutte: Breakfast of Champions (Abe/Mihashi-ish)
4000 words | unrated but G | By day 6 of the training camp Abe is starting to feel pretty good about this cooking-breakfast thing. Aw, I really enjoyed this, both their voices are on-point and Abe's response to the possibility of a crush felt terribly Abe. (Spoilery for the manga.)
Orange Is the New Black: A Bird In the Hand (Nicky/Lorna)
4600 words | G | In which Lorna has the flu, and Nicky definitely doesn't steal any of her stuff. This is a bit fantastic. Not romantic, except that it totally is, and not sweet but totally sweet, with pitch perfect voices.
Pacific Rim/Cloud Atlas: A Partial Map of the Australian Coast (OCs)
5700 words | G | A story in ephemera, of Australia's first jaeger pilots. Huhhh. Interesting. And lol, Clive Palmer, he so would. (The Cloud Atlas references passed me by completely but the story didn't seem to suffer for it particularly, fwiw.)
Slow Starter: Just Add Water (Ino/Kiyo)
2300 words | teen | They don't normally do anything to celebrate the anniversary of their confession, but Ino wants to this time. Oh man, this is the sweetest. Bashful college-aged doofuses in love.
Swallows & Amazons: Dispatches (Dot/Nancy, Peggy, Titty)
4600 words | teen | When Nancy writes to Dot from Buckinghamshire to say she's considering taking billets within two days of the letter posting Dot to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, it feels to her romantic soul like more than a coincidence. I'm not familiar with the later books and so don't know Dot (and for that matter barely remember Nancy) but this is delightful. I love the glimpses of all the girls and their grown-up relationships and wartime posts and secret in-jokes from childhood, and I love Dot's enduring schoolgirl crush and the way things develop between her and Nancy.
Temeraire: Sea of Stars (Laurence & Temeraire)
1400 words | G | Captain Laurence of the Interstellar Corps comes into possession of a dragonship, Imperial class. Ohhh. I was afraid this would make me sad, Temeraire made AI, but I should have known my fondness for AIs would win out immediately. It's lovely, a really sweet evocation of their beginning relationship. And for that matter Laurence's hesitation over Temeraire's ability to truly think and feel mirror his initial hesitations about dragons in the book, so I choose to believe this story would follow the same arc of discovery and realisation, if continued.
Villette: Nymphs and Bacchantes (Lucy/Ginevra)
1700 words | mature | Lucy is woken by Ginevra, fresh from a costume ball and in need of a salve to her wounded vanity. Oh my god, this is so good. Super hot and beautifully characterised, gosh I honestly ship them really a lot, even though or maybe especially because they don't particularly like each other, but that somehow doesn't affect the closeness and flirtiness of their dynamic and their mutual understanding. Damn and the sense of Lucy's passions, suppressed but so fierce. Excellent excellent excellent.
Windows 95 Tips: Ninety Five (Gen)
1200 words | teen | "A collection of helpful tips to improve your Windows 95 experience." Marvellously creepy. Also introduced me to windows95tips.com, of which I'd seen screencaps floating around but didn't realise was a whole thing, v. cool.
7 slash, 6 femslash, 1 het, 1 f/m/m, 8 gen:
Black Books: Noble and Most Ancient (Manny & Bernard & Fran)
8000 words | teen | Bernard Black, long-estranged scion of the House of Black, receives an inheritence. This is hilarious and delightful and note-perfect for both Black Books and the HP universe. I loved the tiny bit of Andromeda-and-Bernard interaction especially. And Red Dwarf Black.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Undercover Work (Rosa/Amy)
3200 words | G | Rosa goes undercover with Santiago at a gay club, and has feelings, although she's not totally clear on what the feelings are; sometimes anger is really hard to tell apart from the other ones. Aw damn, this is so sweet, while still being true to Rosa's voice. I really like this one.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: a distinct lack of tutus (Rosa/Amy)
2900 words | teen | Amy's first reaction is jealous annoyance that this is another chance for Peralta to bond with the captain, simply because he's a guy and can be undercover gay with him. Another undercover-at-a-gay-club fic. This one's really fun. Not a love story, but the kiss is pretty hot and the voices are great, especially Amy's helplessly flexible outlook on her sexuality in the POV voice. Seriously I like this Amy voice a lot, her ambition and the way she tangles herself up over everything.
Calvin & Hobbes: Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine (Susie Derkins & Death)
3100 words | teen | Susie Derkins, confronted with her own Death while crossing the quad in her final year at college, challenges her to a game of Calvinball. This is v. cool. I love the progression of the game, especially; I could never quite picture how a game of Calvinball played out, but this really worked for me. And I really enjoyed this Death.
Chihayafuru: the red that is (Chihaya/Shinobu)
1700 words | G | Ayase Chihaya is breaking Shinobu's concentration. Ohhh gosh this is the loveliest. The kiss scene in particular felt so believable, I can see it going down like this exactly. I really like their dynamic in this fic, especially in the last few scenes.
Chihayafuru: What friends have I who know my heart (Chihaya/Taichi/Arata)
5100 words | teen | Taichi's been waiting for the day they leave him behind; when Chihaya and Arata stand in the apartment Taichi shares with Arata and say they have something to talk about, Taichi guesses it's today. Argh, Taichiiii. This fic is great for feelings and pining, I really liked it. I don't agree with the author's reading of the meaning of that one line from canon she talks about, but it's a lovely get-together all the same. And I loved the way Taichi uses karuta to think about things, that was really skillfully and naturally done.
Church Mice: The Church Mice and the Choristers (Arthur-centric)
1600 words | G | The problem was less the young mice in the choir, and more the parson's mother. OH MY GOD MY YULETIDE GIFT THIS YEAR IS ILLUSTRATED IT IS SO FUCKING CHARMING. Ugh I am delight. Lovely tone, wonderfully true to the original in style and aesthetic. (For some reason the images wouldn't display for me in my browser, but worked on my phone, fwiw.)
Church Mice: The Smallest Details by Anonymous (Arthur/Humphrey)
http://archiveofourown.org/works/1101573
300 words | G | Humphrey's instructions for the procedure to be followed in the event he is unwell. THIS IS THE MOST DARLING THING WHAT A PERFECTLY EXCELLENT HUMPHREY VOICE. Arthur unless he is soggy <3 (Disclaimer: Also a gift for me. BUT SO LOVELY.)
Church Mice: Glory in the Highest (Arthur & Humphrey)
1400 words | G | Arthur and Humphrey are inspired to invite Songs of Praise to film in Wortlethorp. So charming, just a lovely tone with mice being mice, matter of fact and ridiculous.
Demon's Lexicon: The Way Things Were (Jamie/Seb)
1200 words | teen | Jamie and Seb aboard the evil magician boat of doom, featuring occasionally-dark Jamie and unnecessary comments from Nick. So I feel like canon established that Seb was less convinced by Jamie's dark intoxication with power than this? But this is really good all the same, I adore Seb's scared helpless wanting and Jamie's cruel sunny changeability and Nick being impassive and dangerous in the background. Damnit all the Seb/Jamie I just want want want. This is an excellent addition to a tragically small pool, though.
Despicable Me/Hobbes and Bacon (Calvin & Hobbes): Getting to Know You (Crossover ensemble)
1400 words | G | The two main things Bacon has ascertained about her new college roommate, in between her own dad's incessant texts, are 1. she's the middle of three sisters, and 2. her dad is possibly a supervillain. This is super-delightful for both canons (and even though the second Despicable Me movie made me hopping mad, I do love all of the characters). Despite the title it's not so much Bacon & Edith getting to know each other as it is two fics about family occupying the same page, but all the voices are charming and believable and the whole effect is pretty great.
Lost Prince: Most Fervently (Marco/The Rat)
10,000 words | mature | The Feeling comes upon Marco first at the insignificant touch of the Rat's fingers on his cheek, brushing away a horsefly. Oh my ... god. Okay so this is soulmate consensual heat fic with unrealised implications of mpreg, and I'm not gonna lie, part of me is just cackling delightedly at this interpretation for the unbearable kingly specialness of the Loristans. But the rest of me is in love with every Edwardianly earnest and achingly sentimental line of this. Nnnnn loyalty and mutual feudal devotion and bonds formed in boyhood, yes I will yes.
Mulan: The Harmony of You and Me (Mulan/Shang)
1400 words | explicit | "I love you too," Shang says. "I always have. That's the problem." Yess, I love when Mulan fic goes here; this isn't complex but it's fun and sweet, and quite hot although that feels somehow less the point, to me, despite the content. Also I loved her grandmother suggesting Mulan might want to practise her ~wifely duties~ sometimes when Shang wasn't there, and Mushu's busybodiness.
No. 6: A certain symmetry (Shion/Nezumi)
3200 words | G | Wherein Nezumi comes back and Shion punches him in the face. a;lkdj;fs this is beautiful and so full of love and complicated feelings and banter that manages to be both lightly witty and weighed down and saturated with significance and feelings. And Nezumi's eloquence and cowardice and Shion's yearning directness and awful wonderful awareness of Nezumi's presence.
Ookiku Furikabutte: Strategies of Trust (Abe/Mihashi)
8900 words | teen | When rumors surface of an attempt to discredit and dismiss Momokan at the beginning of their third year, the team moves to protect its own. Damnit I LOVE THIS SHIP SO MUCH this is so great. I want this for their future so badly, the ending of course but more than that the trust and comfort with one another, I want them to get there so much, and this is such a beautiful picture of what it could look like. And then the last scene, Abe stuttering, god. And even though the shippiness is beautiful, this is such an ensemble fic in its scope, and all the other team members are so great, the bits of Nishihiro & Oki's friendship, and Sakaeguchi & Suyama's, and just everyone is wonderful.
Ookiku Furikabutte: Breakfast of Champions (Abe/Mihashi-ish)
4000 words | unrated but G | By day 6 of the training camp Abe is starting to feel pretty good about this cooking-breakfast thing. Aw, I really enjoyed this, both their voices are on-point and Abe's response to the possibility of a crush felt terribly Abe. (Spoilery for the manga.)
Orange Is the New Black: A Bird In the Hand (Nicky/Lorna)
4600 words | G | In which Lorna has the flu, and Nicky definitely doesn't steal any of her stuff. This is a bit fantastic. Not romantic, except that it totally is, and not sweet but totally sweet, with pitch perfect voices.
Pacific Rim/Cloud Atlas: A Partial Map of the Australian Coast (OCs)
5700 words | G | A story in ephemera, of Australia's first jaeger pilots. Huhhh. Interesting. And lol, Clive Palmer, he so would. (The Cloud Atlas references passed me by completely but the story didn't seem to suffer for it particularly, fwiw.)
Slow Starter: Just Add Water (Ino/Kiyo)
2300 words | teen | They don't normally do anything to celebrate the anniversary of their confession, but Ino wants to this time. Oh man, this is the sweetest. Bashful college-aged doofuses in love.
Swallows & Amazons: Dispatches (Dot/Nancy, Peggy, Titty)
4600 words | teen | When Nancy writes to Dot from Buckinghamshire to say she's considering taking billets within two days of the letter posting Dot to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, it feels to her romantic soul like more than a coincidence. I'm not familiar with the later books and so don't know Dot (and for that matter barely remember Nancy) but this is delightful. I love the glimpses of all the girls and their grown-up relationships and wartime posts and secret in-jokes from childhood, and I love Dot's enduring schoolgirl crush and the way things develop between her and Nancy.
Temeraire: Sea of Stars (Laurence & Temeraire)
1400 words | G | Captain Laurence of the Interstellar Corps comes into possession of a dragonship, Imperial class. Ohhh. I was afraid this would make me sad, Temeraire made AI, but I should have known my fondness for AIs would win out immediately. It's lovely, a really sweet evocation of their beginning relationship. And for that matter Laurence's hesitation over Temeraire's ability to truly think and feel mirror his initial hesitations about dragons in the book, so I choose to believe this story would follow the same arc of discovery and realisation, if continued.
Villette: Nymphs and Bacchantes (Lucy/Ginevra)
1700 words | mature | Lucy is woken by Ginevra, fresh from a costume ball and in need of a salve to her wounded vanity. Oh my god, this is so good. Super hot and beautifully characterised, gosh I honestly ship them really a lot, even though or maybe especially because they don't particularly like each other, but that somehow doesn't affect the closeness and flirtiness of their dynamic and their mutual understanding. Damn and the sense of Lucy's passions, suppressed but so fierce. Excellent excellent excellent.
Windows 95 Tips: Ninety Five (Gen)
1200 words | teen | "A collection of helpful tips to improve your Windows 95 experience." Marvellously creepy. Also introduced me to windows95tips.com, of which I'd seen screencaps floating around but didn't realise was a whole thing, v. cool.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 03:11 am (UTC)One of the things I wanted to say especially is that I'm so happy you were able to overlook our different interpretations on the "Chihaya belongs to herself" line and enjoy the fic in spite of that. Actually, the interpretation I ended up with wasn't my initial one and the first draft of the story reflects that. Then I heard about the controversy and after days of thought, landed where I did and set about figuring out how to rewrite that section. And then when I was done and it was posted, I did a little more research (because why leave well enough alone when I can overthink everything?)--and discovered my new position is the minority position. orz
The problem with the original version is that I had Taichi speaking aloud something he only thought in canon, so I was going to have to rewrite it anyhow. If you're curious, here's the original version of that section (and no worries if you're not interested, of course!).
___
When Taichi sits back, he says, "Do I remember what?" Arata is looking at him like he hasn't heard. "When I left before, you started to ask me if I remembered something."
Arata shakes himself out of his daze, his hands still resting on Taichi's hips. His thumb strokes absently along the hipbone. "Oh. I don't know if it's important now but I was going to ask if you remember that time at Nationals, when I said Chihaya belongs to herself?"
Of course Taichi remembers; that was the moment—he knew it then, even if he refused to let himself know consciously, but that was the moment Arata moved forward, and Taichi didn't. He doesn't know why Arata would bring it up now, except maybe to assure him that Chihaya wants this, too. He nods.
"And you said she belongs to both of us."
Taichi has seen this kind of intensity on Arata's face before, of course, but only during matches and only directed at the cards. He's not sure how much of the moment has passed before he realizes Arata is waiting for him to respond. He nods again.
"I could never forget those words. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize you were right."
This time Taichi shakes his head. "You're the one who was right."
The door slides open. "You were both right." Emotion is spilling across Chihaya's face, shining in her eyes. She must have heard them even through the closed door; of course she did. "But it's not just me: we all belong to ourselves, and we all belong to each other." She's direct as ever; she was always the most clueless, though, and Taichi can't help wondering how long she's known.
Her inhale interrupts him and he looks to see she's gazing out the window again: "Another one! Shooting stars! Come on, don't miss them..."
___
no subject
Date: 2014-01-15 01:34 am (UTC)But I like Chihaya's "we all belong to each other" in your draft. If Arata and Taichi would admit in canon that they have a claim on each other I would feel a lot better about them feeling possessive about Chihaya.
Seriously, though, your chifuru OT3 fics are my favourites, so ♥
no subject
Date: 2014-01-15 04:30 am (UTC)Thank you again! ♥